This blog describes my journey as a Foreign Service officer, wife of another FSO and a mom to a boisterous, loving boy.We began our careers with the State Department in 2010/2011 and first served in amazing Bangladesh, followed by fabulous Rio de Janeiro. We are currently serving in Washington, DC. Our lives are a pleasant circus and we cannot believe just how lucky we are to live our dreams.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

The NEW Bidlist, EERs and a few good parties

And so, the time has come for a new bid list – something we
have been expecting with joy and no little amount of trepidation. We got the
list last Friday and have been obsessing over it pretty much for the better
part of each day, and a good chunk of each night as well. While the list has
nice cushy European posts (over which we salivate), the Diplomat and I have had
to face the tandem reality – we can only bid on places with at least 2
positions in them. One of which has to be management (the Diplomat is
management-coned). And the country should have good afterschool care.And we wouldn’t need more than 34 weeks of
training (obscure FSI rules). And the timing should work. Which certainly
narrows it down. To about 3 positions, give or take. Sigh.

The bid list is a nerve racking, harrowing experience. Tandem
or not, it causes intermittent and subtle irritation on the FS marriage front for
weeks as one of you seems to think that Ouagadougou is just a wonderful career
opportunity only to be stared down icily by the other one of you in
disagreement. Apply this dynamic to 70% of the bid list and you get the idea of
the atmosphere in the bidding home. Of course, both you and your dedicated spouse
wholeheartedly agree that no matter what you end up doing in Paris, that is by
large a rather pleasant post to serve in. Sadly, this opinion is shared by
about 96% of the other bidders so you are painfully aware that your chances to
go to that ONE available Paris position are pretty slim. And so it goes.

To add more stress to the moment, we are swiftly approaching
the one-year anniversary of our arrival at post, which in the Foreign Service
means one and only one unnecessarily unnerving thing – we are about to face our
Employee Evaluation Report, infamously known as The EER. Each FSO gets
evaluated annually by their direct supervisor and one who is above that
supervisor. Each writes a page of informative narrative about your awesomeness (or
not) during the past year, and then you add your own page about yourself in
what is aptly termed “the suicide box”-
the text literally goes into a text box on the page and has the potential to
kill your career should you say something truly stupid in it (which people have
apparently done). Once the masterpiece is done, it is off to the promotions
boards and other decision-makers and people in the know who make all kinds of
interesting decisions about you and your career. The whole thing lasts about a
month. And then we do it again next year. Good times!

On a more positive note, our social life in Dhaka has
reached new, impossible heights. On May 30, our Embassy hosted our annual July
4th party. Yes, I know the 4th of July is on July 4th,
which was more than a month off at that point. But really, what is a month
among friends, eh? The reality is that most people from the diplomatic corps
and the Bangladesh government tend to leave the city in July, which would make
for a very sparsely attended Independence Day party. And so we move it to accommodate
our guests. The party was a hoot and a big success. One thing future eager FSOs
should know – when you go to similar events at other Embassies, it’s a fabulous
party to enjoy. When you are the host, it is a fabulous party where you work. Everyone
gets assigned a task. I got the honor of saying goodbye to guests from 7.45 pm till
8.30 pm. So, I spent some quality time chatting up exhausted guests waiting for
their limos in the 110 degree humidity. One thing was for sure – they all
seemed to have had a great time!

Other parties in the last 2 weeks included an underground
club with live music, a reception in honor of the new New Zealand ambassador, a
Girls’ Night in, several goodbye parties (‘tis the transfer season), a rather
happening Marines’ dance party, a birthday party for one of Son’s girlfriends
(which I attended with just the tinsiest bit of a hangover following the previously
mentioned Marines’ party), a fabulous rooftop expats party, and an exclusive
dinner with two young and upcoming painters in a restaurant that was apparently
open only for the four of us that night. My feet hurt.

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About Me

I am a corporate lawyer turned mommy, diplomat and, at times, stay at home wife. I used to live in NYC with the Diplomat and Son (born in September 2008), and then in 2010 we moved to Washington, DC so that my husband and I can begin our tandem career with the State Department. I love martinis, single-malt scotch, high-heeled shoes, little black dresses, good cigars, exotic travel and the general good life. Being a mommy, while awesome, is tough but I fight the good fight to preserve my “cool NYer” every day, one martini at a time. Am I a good mom? Abso-freaking-lutely!